Lessons in Bass Line Construction
Steve Schmidt
whale@leland.stanford.edu
Lesson 2 - Beyond the Root Note
In the previous lesson we discussed the two main functions of the bass in
music: defining the chords and providing rhythm. In this lesson, we're going
to talk about using non-root notes to provide a motion from one chord to the
next, which gives a song a sense of direction, and about some ways to make the
bass line a little more interesting than a sequence of roots.
The bass lines in the last lesson used predominantly root notes to define
chords. When the chord changed, the bass line leapt from one root to the next,
like so:
(all notes are 8th notes)
E A E A E
G-------------------------|------------------------|----
D-------------------------|------------------------|----
A--------------0--0--0--0-|-------------0--0--0--0-|----
E--0--0--0--0-------------|-0--0--0--0-------------|-0--
The movement from one chord to the next is rather abrupt. By making the
movement from one root to the next in a couple of steps, rather than in one
large leap, the bass line can provide a sense of movement and anticipation to
the music that isn't present in the simple examples earlier. You can also play
something other than the root note for change...
The simplest way to do this is to add a single note, on the beat before each
change, which is in between the two roots, usually just below the higher one.
For example, we might play this:
(all notes are 8th notes)
E A E A E
G-------------------------|------------------------|----
D-------------------------|------------------------|----
A--------------0--0--0----|-------------0--0--0----|----
E--0--0--0--4-----------4-|-0--0--0--4-----------4-|-0--
In this figure, we play the note G# (a half-step below the A) as a transition
between the E and the A. Such a note is called a leading tone, or passing
tone. It gives a sense of movement to the bass line which isn't present in the
first line. In addition, playing a non-root note on the 2-and beat, and the
4-and beat, reduces the emphasis on that note slightly, providing a contrast
with the new root note coming in on the 3 and 1 beats following.
You can play a single passing tone, or, if the chord changes are farther
apart, you can play more than one. For example, consider this bass line:
(all notes are 8th notes)
E A E
G-------------------------|------------------------|----
D-------------------------|------------------------|----
A-------------------------|-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|----
E--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|------------------------|-0--
Here, there are 8 beats between chord changes, and we can use more than one of
those beats to move from the E to the A. We might alter the last three notes
of each measure as follows:
(all notes are 8th notes)
E A E
G-------------------------|------------------------|----
D-------------------------|------------------------|----
A-------------------------|-0--0--0--0--0----------|----
E--0--0--0--0--0--2--3--4-|----------------4--3--2-|-0--
Here we use a sequence of three leading tones to move us from the E to the A.
In this particular case, we've used three notes each a half-step apart to make
the transition. There are other possibilities. In between the E and the A are
4 notes and you can use any or all of them in making the change. We'll take up
the choice between the possible sequences in a later lesson; but it would be
possible to use any of them in an appropriate piece of music.
The following bass line, from the theme song to the movie "Stand By Me" (I
can't remember who the original artist was, unfortunately), demonstrates a
bass line that moves between 4 chords, using passing tones to get from one to
the next. It also uses the dotted-quarter note rhythm, emphasizing the 1 and
2-and beats with root notes, that we saw in lesson 1.
D major B minor
e e q. q. e e q. q. e e q. q. e e q. q. e e
G-------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
D-------|-0--0-------|-0--0--0----|------------|------------|
A--0--4-|-------0--4-|----------4-|-2--2--r--0-|-2--2--2--0-|
E-------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
Oh I won't be a- fraid, no I won't shed a tear, just as
G major A major D major
q. q. e e q. q. e e q. q. e e q. q.
G-------------|------------|------------|-------
D-------------|------------|-0--0-------|-0--0--
A-----------2-|-0--0--0--4-|-------0--4-|-------
E--3--3--3----|------------|------------|-------
long as you stand, stand by me.
This line is one of the simplest and yet most powerful bass lines in popular
music. It has a lot of features worth noting. First, it uses the same rhythm
in each measure: two dotted quarter notes on the roots, followed by two eighth
notes, or a note and a rest. (Note that the vocal line is singing essentially
the same rhythm.) Second, the dotted quarters are always roots, which
emphasizes those beats more strongly than the eighth notes, which are not
roots, but are leading notes, leading towards the root of the next measure:
A to C# to D for the D major chords, D to C# to B for the B minor chords, B to
A to G for the G major, and G to B to A for A major. See that, while the
leading tone is usually between the two root notes, it doesn't have to be: for
the G major to A major transition, with only G# as a possible in-between note,
the author chose instead to go up to the B, then back down to the A. This is
still called a leading tone, although it's not quite the same as the others,
because it fulfills the same function: it warns of an upcoming chord change,
and gives a pointer in the direction that the chord is going to move.
A third thing to note is that the leading notes are played each measure,
regardless of whether the chord is changing or not. So in measure 6, we play
A-C#-D to move from the A chord to the D chord; and in measure 7 we play
A-C#-D again even though we're staying on the D chord. The sequence still
points to the root of the chord, so why not play it again? By doing this, we
make the bass line a little more interesting, and we give it more of a sense
of movement than it would have if we just played D all the time. Playing
leading sequences is one way to add movement and emphasis to a song that isn't
changing chords at all. For example, here's the bass line from the Doors song
LA Woman:
(All notes are 8th notes)
A major
G-------------------------|------------------------|
D-------------------------|------------------------|
A--0--0--0--0--0----------|-0--0--0--0--0----------|
E-----------------0--3--4-|----------------0--3--4-|
repeat ad infinitum :)
This song stays on the same A major chord for 50-60 measures in places, but
the leading sequences in the bass lines give it a sense of motion that would
not be present if the bassist just played 8th-note A all the time. Although
the Doors had no bass player (Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player, used a second
keyboard to play the bass parts) for their last few albums a studio bassist
was used, and I believe that this line was played on a bass, rather than on
keyboards.
Another thing that can be done to add interest to a bass line is to play two
different versions of the root note. This idea is the mainstay of funk bass
lines. For example, if you were playing a D major chord, you could play the
following line:
(Slap all notes on the A string with the right-hand thumb: pop all notes on
the G string).
D major
e e s s s e s s s s s e
G--------7-----------7--------------7-|
D-------------------------------------| Repeat as needed
A--5--5-----r--5--5-----r--5--5--5----|
E-------------------------------------|
This line has a lot of things to note about it also. First, all the notes are
root notes, but the line uses a low one and a high one to provide variety.
Second, this line uses a 16th note rhythm: look at the 16th rests in the line.
They follow the popped high note, which increases the impact of the pop. Also,
the fifth through ninth notes don't start on an even 8th note. 16th note
rhythms are counted "1-e-and-a-2-e-and-a-3-e-and-a-4-e-and-a"; the first four
notes start on numbers and ands, but the next five start on "e"s and "a"s.
This gives the line a much more syncopated, funky feeling. It also makes it
harder to play correctly: you'll probably have a hard time reading this rhythm
if you haven't played it before. Work it out very slowly, counting aloud,
until you have it down, then gradually work up the tempo. Larry Graham, of Sly
and the Family Stone, and later his own band Graham Central Station, was one
of the first bassists to play 16th note rhythms, and was also one of the first
to slap and pop. If you're into 16th note rhythms, you can get a lot of
inspiration from his lines.
You can also combine the ideas of playing different roots and playing leading
tones into one bass line. The following line is from the song Purple Haze, by
the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with Noel Redding on bass. (At least, this is how
I play it in my band. I think the recorded version is a little different.)
E #9 G7 A7
e e e. s e e e. s e e e. s e s e s e
G-------------------------|---------------------------|
D--------2--2--------2--2-|-------5--5----------------|
A-------------------------|-------------------5--6--7-|
E--0--0--------0--0-------|-3--3--------5--5----------|
Note the use of the octaves on the E and G roots. This matches the drummer's
pattern: where the bass is playing the lower note, the drummer is playing the
bass drum and where the bass is playing the higher note, the drummer is
playing his snare. For the A7 chord, the bass doesn't play the octave note:
instead, it plays D-D#-E leading back to the low E for the next measure. (The
drummer plays a drum fill while this is happening, so there's no need to keep
playing the octave: he won't be matching it anyway.)
To conclude this lesson, I'll give you one more bass line. It combines all the
ideas we've talked about so far: using roots to define the chord, using rests
to de-emphasize particular notes, switching from one rhythm to another when
changing from verse to chorus, and using leading tones to add movement when
the chord isn't changing. This is the bass line from the Police song
"Roxanne", and again Sting is the bassist. Observe how the root note is
played, but never on the first beat of the measure: in the verse, the bass is
resting, while in the chorus either the previous root is tied over, or a
leading tone is played on the first note. In the verses, the bass is a little
bt behind the chord changes: in the chorus it's a little bit ahead. It makes
for a very interesting line, and demonstrates that there's no such thing as a
hard and fast rule (at least not for Sting).
Verse:
G min F maj Eb maj D maj C min
e e q h e e q h e e q h e e q h e e q h
G-------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
D--r--5--5--r-|-r--3--3--r-|-r--1--1--r-|-r--0--0--r-|-r----------|
A-------------|------------|------------|------------|----3--3--r-|
E-------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
Roxanne.. You don't have to put on the red light. Walk the street for
F maj G min
e e q q e e w w
G-------------------|---|-----|
D-------------------|---|-----|
A-------------------|---|-r---| repeats
E--r--1--1--r--3--3-|-3-|-----|
\_/
money... You don't care if it's wrong, or if it's right.
Chorus:
Bb maj F major
q e e e e e e e e e e e e e e q e e e e e
G-------|------------------------|---------------------|------------
D-------|------------------------|----------------1--3-|-3--3--3--3-
A--3--1-|-1--1--1--1--0--1--1--1-|-0--1--1--1--1-----\___/----------
E-----\___/----------------------|---------------------|------------
Roxanne........ Roxanne....
G minor
e e e e e e e e e q e e e e e e e e e
G-------------|---------------------|------------------------|
D--2--3--3--3-|-2--3--3--3--3-------|------------------------|
A-------------|----------------3----|------------------------|
E-------------|-------------------3-|-3--3--3--3--2--3--3--3-|
\_/
Roxanne..
e e e e e q e
G----------------------|----
D----------------------|----
A-----------------3--1-|-1-- repeats
E--2--3--3--3--3-----\___/--
Lesson 3 will talk about chords in more detail. We'll talk about a few
different types of chords, and about using chords in constructing your
bass lines.
Steve
This lesson is copyright 1993 by Steve Schmidt. Permission to distribute
this lesson without charge is granted, provided that it remain unaltered,
including this notice. You may not charge money for the use of this lesson,
and you may not alter the terms of this license.
--
Steve Schmidt <>< whale@leland.stanford.edu
I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist
indoctrination, Communist subversion, and the international Communist
conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids!